1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for executing an application in a vehicle.
2. Description of the Background Art
In recent years, execution of various kinds of applications in a vehicular system used in a vehicle, such as a navigation system, has been suggested. In one specific example of such suggestion, a plurality of applications are installed in a vehicular system beforehand, and a selected one of the plurality of applications is executed in the vehicular system.
Generally, an application which is executable in a vehicular system can be executed when a user of a vehicle (mainly, a driver) points to an icon or the like for the application. Also, the application can be executed when predetermined conditions for execution, for example, running of the vehicle in a specific place, are satisfied. In this manner, necessary information can be automatically provided to a user while driving a vehicle, without the user's consciousness. For instance, by causing an application for business to be executed when a vehicle is located near an office of a user, it is possible to provide information such as business mails and business news to the user. To make plural kinds of applications executable in a vehicular system allows various pieces of information to be provided to a user of a vehicle.
Meanwhile, in a case where plural kinds of applications are made executable, not only information necessary to a user, but also information unnecessary to the user may probably be provided to the user by execution of those applications.
For example, while a user is driving a vehicle for recreation, it is likely that an application for business is automatically executed and so information regarding business is provided to the user when the vehicle coincidentally runs in the neighborhood of the user's office. In the case where many applications are made executable, information which is unnecessary for a purpose of use of a vehicle is often provided to a user. Such provision of unnecessary information to a user at many times makes the user uncomfortable, so that the degree of the user's concentration on driving may possibly be lowered.
Further, in the case where many applications are made executable, there arises a need to display many icons on a screen in order to give instructions for execution of the many applications. As a result, when a user desires to execute a certain application, it takes much time for a user to find out an icon corresponding to the desired certain application, so that the degree of the user's concentration on driving may possibly be lowered.